Shop

Shop

Dongfeng aims to sell 100,000 electric vehices by 2015

China's third-largest automotive group, Dongfeng Motors, recently announced that it's set to invest a massive chunk of change into the development of alternative technology vehicles. The company's future blueprint shows that Dongfeng will dish out three billion yuan ($459.7 million U.S. at the current exchange rate) in an effort to speed up the commercialization of eco-friendly vehicles like hybrids and electrics.
It appears that Dongfeng is gearing up to offer electric cars in mass quantities beginning in early 2012, according to reports. The Chinese automaker is supposedly aiming to sell 100,000 electric vehicles by the end of 2015, says Zhu Fu Shou, president of Dongfeng. However, it's unclear if all of those battery-powered vehicles will bear Dongfeng's own logo or if that number includes electric autos from its many joint venture partners: Nissan, Kia, Peugeot, Citroen and Honda. Either way, that's a load of electrified vehicles reportedly set to hit the streets soon.

Reported comments and users are reviewed by Autoblog staff 24 hours a day, seven days a week to determine whether they violate Community Guideline. Accounts are penalized for Community Guidelines violations and serious or repeated violations can lead to account termination.

Dongfeng's plan to put 100,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2015 sounds familiar. It's exactly the same target as that recently declared by Bryan Hansel, boss of America's own Smith Electric Vehicles. This week in London, UK, two national papers - The Times, and the Financial Times - report that investment bank Goldman Sachs has been hired to arrange a massive $500m - $1000m floatation of Smith stock on the Nasdaq stockmarket. That dwarfs the Tesla floatation. If it goes ahead it will allow Smith to press ahead with production facilities in up to 20 states almost immediately. At present Smith's Missouri facility is shipping 10-20 per week and rising, with order books full for this year.

This new generation of EVs are pretty good. The next generation will be better. I think it's started. In a way, the oil speculators were the catalyst. The dynamics of a competitive market have just began to come in play, with many startup EVs trying to come to market with products inferior to the Leaf and the Volt and pretty much are dead on arrival. Right now the government subsidies are allowing us to help pay for our neighbor's EV. It is a distortion of the market forces that is distasteful, but it does help get EVs established firmly. There still isn't enough of them available for market forces to drive the cost of production down, but that will come once they are really available.

The subsidies are also distorting the demand for EVs. Many on ABG assume the average consumer will buy an EV over a gas powered car, the price being equal. I don't think so. Hybrids have yet to break a 3% marketshare and they don't require any change in behavior. They have also been available for over 10 years. I would think EVs would be all the rage in places like Japan and most European cities, with their high gas prices and short travel distances but I don't see it.

Mind you, this is about China where producers and consumers aren't as free to let the market do it's work as in the West. The Chinese Government has decided that weening itself of oil is a national priority and has pronounced new energy vehicles one of seven strategic sectors it plans to spend $1.5 trillion (!) on. That's where big EV plans like Dong Feng's come from.